The U.S. will "defer" its 2008 cash contributions to the international ITER Organization, "postpone" some U.S. ITER design and R&D activities, and "forego initiating our (ITER construction) long-lead procurements," according to a January 10 letter sent by U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) Under Secretary for Science Raymond Orbach to ITER Director General Kaname Ikeda. The U.S. will continue to help resolve major technical issues and participate in various ITER advisory committees, according to Orbach. In spite of the Congres-sionally-mandated budget cuts, Orbach states that "the U.S. is firmly committed to meeting our obligations under the ITER Joint Implementing Agreement and that we are doing everything possible to rectify the situation." In the recently passed FY2008 appropriations bill, Congress provided no funds for U.S. participation in ITER construction. The full text of the letter is as follows:
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